i really don't know what to expect as far as line up. 10 might be too early but i'm not sure... best bet would be to be in times square by 10 and if there's no line just hit up a bar for a few and head back out.

the last time st. patrick's day was on a weekend, in 2002, i had my first at 9:15am and had my last at quarter to 4 in the morning.

i have my own pace to things...

have a few on the train ride in, and perhaps a few in penn station... then take a subway up to the parade, walk around for a while, check out the parade for an hour or so, then hop into a bar for 2 hours or so... then go and walk to another place... and so on and so forth.